Now that my son has a son who’s a year old, it’s fun to watch for similarities between Ezra and his dad, things I remember so clearly when I see them fleshed out in his little boy. He doesn’t have his dad’s dimples as his sister does, much to his mom’s chagrin. He has one dimple and it’s more pronounced when he’s smirking. He’s our most adventurous grandchild yet when it comes to climbing. He’s so close to taking his first steps but for now he prefers to crawl or climb. Like his sister, he’s usually pretty careful about climbing back down.
Sometimes he gets stuck and screams until someone comes to the rescue. His mom and dad are good to use those teachable moments to help him form an escape plan for next time. They roll him to his tummy, placing him legs first until his toes touch the floor. He’s still a baby so we all tend to hover, especially when the toddlers are playing nearby. Their roughhousing presents dangers that Ezra isn’t looking out for. That’s our job.
Imagine with me God watching Joseph and Mary with baby Jesus. I’ve held my breath and tried not to overreact or second guess my own kids as they’re learning this whole parenting thing. I’m human. They’re human. At the end of the day we do things differently but we all love these babies immensely. How do we wrap our finite minds around sovereign God entrusting Himself to be parented by His own creation?
“Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival.
When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual.
After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.
His parents didn’t miss him at first, because they assumed he was among the other travelers.
But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.
When they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there.
Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions.
All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us?
Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.”
“But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
But they didn’t understand what he meant.
Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.
And his mother stored all these things in her heart.”
Luke 2:41-51 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.2.41-51.NLT
Jesus knew He was God from His earliest awareness. By age twelve, He was at home in His Father’s house, the Temple, conversing easily with the rabbis and amazing them with His knowledge. Apparently, His parents didn’t fully understand who he was despite Gabriel’s pronouncement to Mary and Joseph’s visions.
I’ve lost sight of one of my children momentarily in the grocery store and my heart sank. I recall meeting friends in the food court at the mall when my youngest, Ezra’s dad, was two at most. We had ordered our food and I had carried it to the table, probably with Jacob on my hip. Once he was seated in a chair, Aaron and Caroline, each older by two years, had taken seats and were probably opening their meals as I prepared mine and Jacob’s. Next thing I know, Jacob was down from his chair and two tables away. He stopped only momentarily to glance back, obviously pleased with himself, before turning to run full speed ahead. I still remember the panic I felt darting after him and away from my other children. I knew from the look in his eyes he had no intention of stopping.
I feel certain the things Mary treasured in her heart got there by way of the knot in her throat and in the pit of her stomach at the thought of losing the Son of God. Only in reflection could she realize the fullness of each treasured moment. Jesus was her Son and He was also her Savior. At what point did she begin to grasp the severity of God’s plan for Him?
“From that day forward the Jewish leaders began to persecute Jesus because of the things he did on the Sabbath.
Jesus answered his critics by saying, “Every day my Father is at work, and I will be, too!”
This infuriated them and made them all the more eager to devise a plan to kill him.
For not only did he break their Sabbath rules, but he also called God “my Father,” which made him equal to God.”
John 5:16-18 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/jhn.5.17-18.TPT
It is comforting for me to hear Jesus say that He and His Father are always working. So many days I feel like I’m spinning my wheels and getting nowhere. No matter how much I accomplish, there’s always more to do. Two steps forward and one step back describes so much of life. I’m grateful that my days are in God‘s hands, every single one recorded in His book, every moment laid out before a single day has passed. (Psalm 139:16) I hear Jesus beckon me to remain in Him as a branch in the Vine, receiving life giving nourishment, being trained by the Master to grow and bear fruit. Apart from Him I can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)
“So Jesus said, “I speak to you eternal truth.
The Son is unable to do anything from himself or through his own initiative.
I only do the works that I see the Father doing, for the Son does the same works as his Father.
Because the Father loves his Son so much, he always reveals to him everything that he is about to do.
And you will all be amazed when he shows him even greater works than what you’ve seen so far!”
John 5:19-20 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/jhn.5.19-20.TPT
If the Son was wholly dependent on the Father, how can I hope to be otherwise? Why would I want to be? My knowledge is only partial. His way is perfect. It is a profound mystery how God the Father became Christ the Son without compromising any of His Godhood but I see in the relationship between Father and Son a love worth emulating and an example worth following. God’s eternal Spirit present with me and in me as Jesus promised all who believe enables me to live beyond myself.
“But Jesus permanently holds his priestly office, since he lives forever and will never have a successor!
So he is able to save fully from now throughout eternity, everyone who comes to God through him, because he lives to pray continually for them.
He is the High Priest who perfectly fits our need—holy, without a trace of evil, without the ability to deceive, incapable of sin, and exalted beyond the heavens!”
Hebrews 7:24-26 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/heb.7.26.TPT
“So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.
This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.
There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.4.14-16.NLT
“How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/2co.5.21.MSG
“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.5.21.NLT
“This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived.
He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step.
He never did one thing wrong, not once said anything amiss.
They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back.
He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right.
He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way.
His wounds became your healing.
You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going.
Now you’re named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls.”
1 Peter 2:21-25 MSG
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